My Little Angel
by NobodyStrikesAgain
Summary: Edward is a single teenage father who wants only the best for his little angel, like ever other proud father. Is his love for his daughter, Ell, going to keep him from living his life? Is his life going to tear him away from his beloved daughter?
1. Of Nights

*Twilight is not mine*

_How did I end up in this situation?_ I asked myself as I rolled out of bed and put my warm feet on the cold hardwood flooring. I hissed in displeasure as the cold ran up my body, but continued on my way. I can't act like the teenager I really am and burry my head under my pillow to block out the screeching noise that woke me up from my peaceful slumber.

"Hush, my love, Daddy's here. Daddy's got you," I picked up my little angle from her crib, which was only a few feet from my bed, but I thought it was much too far. It's not the cold that really bothers me; it's the time it takes for me to get over there when she's crying in the middle of the night.

I started panicking when I couldn't get her to calm down. She didn't smell, so she didn't need a new diaper, and she wasn't suckling, so she wasn't hungry. I ran into the bathroom as fast as I could without causing anymore distress to my baby girl. I searched one handedly for the baby ear thermometer thing, which had to be in the back of the medicine cabinet. I stuck it in her ear and waited. A few seconds later, the thing beeped and I checked the digital screen.

"One hundred one degrees farenhight," I said slowly, not comprehending what that meant quiet yet.

That didn't last long. It clicked in my head that my princess needed help and I was outside with her bright pink diaper bag slung over my shoulder. I had Ell buckled in her car seat and was pulling out of the driveway by the time I remembered to tell Mom where I was going. I searched blindly in the diaper bag for my cell phone, which wasn't there. I must have left it plugged in. I ran my fingers through my messy hair and sighed. Mom will just have to freak out for a while.

El started coughing and my foot pressed down harder, "Hush, my love, Daddy's here. Daddy's not going anywhere," I whispered to her. She started cry louder after the coughing.

I turned into the hospital parking lot and pulled into the closest spot. I tore the keys out and grabbed the diaper bag before getting Ell gently from the back. Her eyes were bright red and snot was running from her little pink nose. I held my angel close to me and walked briskly to the sliding doors at the front of the hospital. Ell was still wrapped up in her blood red blanket from her crib to keep her warm and dry in this new rainy climate, but I forgot a jacket and real shoes. Her cries turned to whimpers when I picked her up, but she was still not the happy baby I put to bed last night.

"Oh my," the elderly lady behind the front desk said upon my entrance. She stood up and angled her head a bit, no bout trying to get a better view of the baby in my arms. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked.

"Yes, "I rasped, "My baby girl has a fever and she started coughing and I don't know what to do," my voice became weaker and weaker with every word I said and the lady smiled kindly at me.

"Is this the first time she's gotten sick?"

"Well, yeah," I smiled sheepishly. I took a tissue from the box on the counter and started drying Ell's little face. She scrunched up her nose at the evasion of her personal bubble. I smiled slightly at her cute annoyed face before turning back to the lady, who I now noticed was wearing a name tag. "What do I do, Miss. Mary?"

She smiled at me, "Just fill out these forms. I'll get the doctor for little..."

"Ell. Elizabeth Carmella Masen-Cullen."

"That is such a beautiful name."

"Thank you," I smiled and took the forms to the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. I put the diaper bag on the floor and sat down. The clipboard of forms went next to me as a situated Ell in my lap. I tucked one ankle under my thigh and placed Ell's neck at the crease in my bend leg to support her head. I grabbed the clipboard from the chair and started filling out the forms.

Ten minutes later and I had one question left. A throat was cleared above me.

"The doctor can see you now, Mr. Masen-Cullen."

"Please, just Edward," I smiled up at her and handed her the now completed forms before shifting Ell into my arms and grabbing the diaper bag.

"This way Edward," she smiled at me, curiosity shinning through her polite gaze, "that was an interesting way you held little Ell."

I smiled as I followed her, "You learn some things after eight months of high school with a little girl to take care of."

"What about her mother and your mother?"

I tensed, "Her mother just left on my front porch when no one was home because she didn't want to deal with a baby," I said harshly, "My mother believes that when I'm home I should care for Ell, even if I have to study for a big test and Ell will not stand to be put down. Oh Man."

"What is it?"

"My mom, I didn't tell her I was going anywhere. She is going to freak when she finds my room empty."

"Don't worry Hun; I'll call her for you. Is the number on the forms?"

"Yes, It's under Esme and Carlisle Cullen."

"Not Masen-Cullen?"

"Nope," this subject was not touchy, but it made people feel awkward, so I avoided it.

"Oh," she left it at that and opened a plain white door for me, "Dr. Byrd is waiting for you." I walked inside to find and Elderly man washing his hands in steaming water with a grimace on his face. "Harold, you old bat, what are you doing?"

"I can't have cold hands when examining a little one, Mary, you know that," he smiled kindly at her and she blushed lightly.

"Harold, you have a patient to take care of, and I have a phone call to make," he raised his eye brow at this but asked no question about it, just held his hand out for the papers, "Nope I need these for the number. You have the patient and her father."

He turned to me then and held out his hand, I shifted Ell into my left arm to shake it, "Hello, I'm Dr. Harold Byrd."

"I'm Edward Cullen, and this is Ell," I nodded to the angle in my arms.

He smiled and held out his arms for her. I was very reluctant to let him hold her. Doctor or not she didn't know him, and she didn't take well to people she doesn't know. I didn't do too well when she was out of reach, either. He seemed to understand this and just asked me to unwrap the blanket. "So, what is wrong with this angel?"

"She has a fever, and started coughing on the way over here," I stated, blushing slightly at the simplicity of what caused my worry.

"Hmm, I take it you left in a hurry after that?" He gestured towards my clothing and my blush deepened, giving him a good laugh. He turned around and grabbed something off a table, an ear thermometer thing. I looked down at Ell, who started squirming in my arms.

"Hush, my love," I whispered, bringing her head up to kiss her forehead. I brought her back down and Dr. Byrd put the thermometer in her ear. She liked it even less than the one from home, and she started whimpering louder.

"Do you know of anything that will calm her down, son?" he asked me after she shook the thermometer out of her ear. I nodded and started humming Clair de Lune. "Well, I didn't think it work that well," he stated.

"It's her favorite from Debussy," I smiled at my little angel. The rest of the check up went along smoothly.

"Well, it seems Ell just has a little cold. She'll be fine in a few days. Just make sure she's getting plenty of rest and fluids."

"So, I over reacted, right?" He laughed a little at that.

***"Not in the least bit, son, she's your baby girl. You did just right by her," he patted me on the shoulder then led me out of the room. "Did you make that call, Love?" Dr. Byrd asked Miss Mary, who blushed and nodded.

"Your mother sounded very lovely, but she seemed to panic when I told her where you were. She said she was on her way, and not to move," I shook my head at that. Mom started over reacting like that ever since I found out about Ell.

"Did she say when she'd be here?" I asked.

"Oh, she should be here any minute now," she responded, looking out the window. A few minutes turned out to be only a few seconds, because at that moment my mother crashed through the door, dragging my still have asleep father behind her.

"Edward, dear child, what were you thinking not waking me up?" Mom took me by the shoulders and shook lightly, though it was still enough to disturb Ell, who had fallen asleep shortly after the check up. She woke up with a loud cry of distress and I cuddled her closer to my chest.

"Relax, Mom," I told her, trying to calm down the screaming infant in my arms.

"Relax? RELAX? You want me to _relax_ when I wake up to a phone call telling me that my son and grandchild are at the_ hospital," _Her voice got louder and louder with each word she spoke, making Ell cry louder.

"Dad, help," I asked, turning to look at him. There was no way I could handle two upset women, I could hardly handle the single one in my arms!

"No, son, I think you should handle this one on your own. I'll just be over here, trying not to sleep," he laughed at me as I turned back to my mom, who was turning slightly red in the face and was pacing now.

"Mom?" I asked timidly. Ell had started calming down now, seeing as no one was yelling now.

"Who knows what could have happened to you to get you stuck in the hospital, Edward?" she stopped pacing and stared into my eyes. I saw the old grief there that I can hardly remember, seeing as I was only four when it happened. I shifted Ell into one arm and pulled her tight to me with the other.

"I'm not leaving you any time soon," I whispered in her ear, using the same words my birth mother, her sister, said to me when we found out about her dieses. Of course, she did leave me only half a year later.

"I know Edward," she sobbed back, clinging to me. I looked up to Dad was talking to Dr. Byrd and Miss Mary talking to someone hidden from my view. I didn't try to see her; I just wanted to go home now.

"Mom, can we go home now? I need to Get Ell back to bed," my angle started squirming again, but didn't cry. She was hungry. I grabbed a bottle from the diaper bag that had a premeasured amount of formula in it, and a thermos of water, that was lukewarm by now. I poured the water into the bottle of nasty powder and shook it, ewe. "I need to sign out, don't I?" I asked after I was done grimacing at the nasty concoction I had to feed to my daughter.

"Yes, do you want me to take her?" she asked, though she knew as well as I did that she would only eat if I fed her, which was a pain during school, but we managed through visits after ever class.

"Nope, I've got her," I sifted her again so that I could get the sling thing out of the bag and put her in it. I swear that thing was like an extra set of arms. She started drinking readily and I went up to the front desk to sign out. Of course, now I could see who Miss Mary was talking to.


	2. Of Mornings

***I wouldn't be living in my parent's house if I owned Twilight, would I?***

_She's beautiful_; I thought to myself I could only see her back, but still. I shook my head to clear it as Ell pushed the nipple of the bottle out of her mouth and whimpered. I picked her up and put her head on my shoulder to burp her.

"Miss Mary?" I ask while patting my daughter's back.

"Yes, do you need something?"

"Err, yeah, what do I need to do to go home now?"

"Oh, just sign in and you can be on your way," she smiled at me. Ell decided that then was the time to burp. Of course, it wasn't her normal burp; it sounded more like a grown man's burp. It made the beautiful girl jump and turn around. She wasn't the only one shocked; I pulled Ell from my shoulder and looked her in the eyes. She just giggled at my face and reached out to touch me.

"Dada," she said, and my eyes grew wider than saucers as I stared at her.

"Wha-What did you say Ell?"

"Dada!" she said again, clapping happily.

"Edward, did she just?" Mom asked slowly, in just as much shock I me.

"She spoke, Mom! She said her first words!" My grin grew as I held her up in the air, "My baby girl said Dada!" I brought her back down to my chest and hugged her tightly. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Dad with a grin only slightly smaller than mine. I smirked slightly and felt Ell squirm again, wanting the bottle back. "There you go my little geniuses," I said as I was giving back her bottle.

"Here you go, Edward," Miss Mary said as she slid one last form over to me.

"Thanks," I said, still smiling. I hadn't put Ell back in the sling thing, so I put her little diapered bottom on the desk and twisted my arm awkwardly inward so that I could help her hold the bottle and her head at the same time.

"Where's her mother?" an angelic voice said.

"Don't know. Don't care. She doesn't deserve this angel after what she did," I said harshly, my good mood gone.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," the angel said, sound like a scared, hurt little child.

I sighed, "It's not your fault, and I shouldn't take it out on you. I 'm sorry," I looked up at her and smiled slightly. She smiled back and walked closer.

"Can I hold her?" she asked timidly.

"Err, she doesn't usually take to strangers very well…and I don't really like her to be out of my reach…"

"Oh," she sounded so sad, angels shouldn't be sad.

"You could try," I found myself saying before I could stop myself. She looked up and smiled at me. I found my good mood again.

Ell spit out the nipple of the bottle again, this time full. The burnet angel threw her hair behind her and cradled her arms. I set Ell down gently, she looked up at me and started whimpering, not crying just yet, which was a good sign. "Hush, my angel. Daddy's right here," I whispered to her. She stopped whimpering and looked at me.

"Dada?"

"Yes, sweetie, Daddy's right here," she reached out towards me, "No, no, love," I grabbed her hand and gave it a little kiss. I looked up at the angel and she looked like she was about to cry.

"That's so sweet, Edward," I blushed. It's really annoying how much I blush. It's not normal for a guy to blush this much.

"Thanks," I smiled sheepishly for some reason. Ell whimpered again and I turned back to her.

"Dada," she said again. I sighed.

"It looks like she's not going to be happy about it," I looked back up at the angel.

"She really adorable," she whispered before handing her back to me, "I should be getting back anyway. I'll see you around, Edward," I really liked it when she said my name. I don't know what it is about her saying my name, but I loved it. I watched her walk around the corner when I realized something: I don't know her name! Stupid Edward! Stupid Edward! Why didn't you ask her for her name!

"Angel, your daddy needs help," I left a raspberry on her cheek and she giggled at the noise. I looked around to see that my parents had already left. "It's time to go home Ell," I said and went out the door. I buckled Ell into the back and slung myself into the car. I hope that Ell will go right to sleep tonight, because I know I will.

I pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. Ell had fallen asleep on the way home, but started squirming again as soon as the car was stopped. I cooed as I lifted her out of the car seat so that she wouldn't start crying. Tonight she will sleep in my bed, not in the crib. She's not going to get any sleep in a crib.

"Let's get to bed, Princesses," I whispered into her hair as I kicked the door closed. It had gotten colder outside since we left, so I wrapped the blanket around her tighter and held her closer to my chest. Of course, the blanket didn't exactly help me. I would be just as cold without it.

When we got up to our room on the third floor, we both went right to sleep on my bed.

The next morning, I awoke to crying again, only this time I knew what was wrong. "Ell, do you have a stinky?" I asked her playfully. She shook her head and giggled. "Oh, well then you must have bad breath, huh love? Is that it?" she nodded this time, "Well, Daddy doesn't like smelly kisses. I guess I'll just have to get my kisses from Grams," I got up and walked towards the door. I didn't get a step away before Ell started crying and saying "Dada" over and over. "Hush, my love, Daddy's still here," I cooed. I changed her diaper and brought her down stairs then.

"Edward, is that you?"

"Yeah, Mom, it's me. Ell's hungry," I said before fixing her a bottle.

"I spoke to your new school yesterday, by the way," oh, yeah, I start school today, don't I? Huh, "They said that for the first week you can bring Ell to school if it would be easier for you and her," I smiled at her thoughtfulness.

"Thanks; Mom," she beamed at me, "I'm going to go get ready."

I finished feeding and burping Ell before heading back upstairs to take a shower. I put Ell in her crib in my room before heading to the bathroom. The door was left open; so that I could hear her if she started crying or fussing. I washed my hair as fast as humanly possible, already wanting to get back to the angel in my room. I threw on a tee shirt and jeans before heading back to my baby girl. I picked her up and changed her into one of the cute outfits Mom bought her. It was a midnight blue one-piece with little silver stars all over it.

"Mom, I'm leaving now!"

"Don't forget the diaper bag! I put a new thermos of hot water in there for you!"

"Thanks, moms," I yelled out to her while slinging my book bag and diaper bag over my shoulder. I put everything in the car and sped off to the first day of my new school.

I looked into the baby mirror clipped onto my rearview. "Well, baby girl, it looks like it's time for your first day at high school already," I said as I pulled up into the nearest spot. The school was just off the high way, so it wasn't that hard to find.

I got out of the car and heard the start of the rumors about the new student. I leaned in to the open back door and heard a wolf whistle and a couple of "Ow-ow"s from a few cars down. "Looks like Daddy's going to have a long day, sweet heart," Ell just giggled at me. I stayed in the car as long as I could, but I heard the click of high heels come up behind me.

"Well, Hello there handsome," a nasally voice said from behind me. It scared Ell, so she whimpered. Apparently, the girl behind me thought it was a different type of whimper, because she continued. "If I can do that just by talking, imagine what else I can do," she said. I think she was trying to be seductive, but it just made Ell whimper more. I heard her take a breath and decided to save my daughter, and myself, from this.

"Excuse me?" I turned around to face her.

"Yeah?"

"You're scaring my daughter," I stated.

"What?" she screeched. I thought her voice was bad before, but that had nothing on her screech. Ell started sobbing and I turned back to her.

"Hush, my love," I whispered. I unbuckled her from her seatbelt and pulled her from the car. Her crying had stopped, but the rumors had increased tenfold. I grabbed the diaper bag and my book bag and locked the car. I looked around for the front office. Lucky for me, the buildings where clearly labeled. It started sprinkling when I realized I forgot to bring Ell's blanket. I walked faster into the building.

The air in the building was humid and warm, but at least it wasn't cold and wet. The office was just off to the left of the front doors. It was a wide room with a desk cutting it in half with an older red-head lady behind the desk.

"Hello?" I asked. She hadn't heard me come in because she was too engrossed in a novel she had glued to the tip of her nose. It had a couple on the front, kissing in a way that was only acceptable in the bedroom. I resisted the urge to cover Ell's eyes.

"Oh, sorry, what can I help you with?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from the romance novel and looking up at me. Her eyes widened at the sight of Ell, but didn't say anything.

"I'm Edward Cullen, the new student here."

"Yes, Edward. I believe I have your stuff right…" she shuffled through a couple stacks of papers on the desk in front of her, "here, here it is. And I have you a map right here," she handed me two pieces of paper, "Oh and before I forget, you need to get your teachers to sign this slip of paper and bring it back to me at the end of the day," she smiled creepily. Well, it was creepy to me. I had a feeling that she wanted something very, very wrong. It sent shivers down my spine, like when you hear noises in the night.

"Okay," I smiled nervously, I didn't want her think it was alright to grope me or something. I saw chairs lined up against the wall outside the office and put my bags down so I could take my jacket off. I'd rather get wet and cold then Ell. Students stopped and stared as I wrapped my angel up in the leather jacket I got last year for Christmas. I knew that would come in handy someday.

I picked up my now cozy little girl and our stuff before checking my schedule: 5207. I checked the map to see how to get there, it didn't seem too difficult. I walked down the hallway lined with lockers and took another left at the end. _This school has too many lefts_, I thought as I walked down a much smaller hallway, with the chorus and band rooms attached to it, and out the double doors at the end. I looked at the map again to check which way I to go. Ha, I get to go right this time, and the half-way across school and up a flight of stairs. The longer that I'm at this school, the louder the gossip seems to get. I can already tell this is going to be a good week. HA!


	3. Of School

***The beloved Twilight was not written by my hand***

I managed to make my way to my first period just before the late bell rang.

"Err, Hi. I'm Edward Cullen; I'm new student here," I said as I passed her the slip for her to sign. Of course, she couldn't sign it. Oh no, she was too busy staring at the little bundle I held in my arms. I looked down at my schedule to make sure I had the right class, which I did. "Mrs. Hammonds?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry, what did you say?"

"I'm Edward Cullen. I'm new here. Where should I sit?" She signed the paper quickly before pointing to a seat right in front of her desk. I guess it would be harder for the other students to stare openly at me, much like Mrs. Hammonds herself just finished doing.

"We are starting chapter seventeen of Huckleberry Finn today. I need you to sign here for the book," she pointed to a line on a sheet of paper filled with messy teenage writing, then handed me a book. I had already read to book, and had it at home, but I followed her instructions, "And here is the pack for the whole book. You'll have the chance to turn it in periodically to boost your lowest quiz grade. And if you don't do the reading, just write it at the top of the quiz and I'll give you a twenty instead of grading it. Of course, you can't change that grade if it's your lowest,' she finished. I briefly wondered if she did this for everyone, or if I got special treatment. I looked in her eyes and nodded my understanding. She didn't seem to be the type to do that.

The class had been talking before hand, even though the announcements where on. The pledge came on and the older women who said the announcements sped through the pledge, leaving most of the class behind, and the moment of silence, which was surprisingly silent.

"Hey, we need to start now if ya'll don't want homework. Chapter eighteen needs to be read by tomorrow," she pressed play on a CD player in the front of the room and a deep voice started talking, playing the part of Huck. Ell, who had fallen back to sleep in my coat, stirred at the loud voice and gave a loud little baby yawn. A few of my neighboring students looked over at the sound, and kept staring when they saw what made it. I ignored them as I took her out of my jacket and set her on my lap. She wasn't ready to sit up on her own yet, so I leaned her against my chest and laid my arm on her lap. As stupid as I may have looked with it on, I wore a little bracelet with large charms on it. It worked just as well as any toy, and I didn't have to go across the room every five seconds.

Ell looked at me up-side-down and smiled before playing with the little baby charm. I heard the girl closest to me aw and I looked over. She was staring at Ell with her hand on her stomach. Either she was expecting or wanted to be expecting.

Mrs. Hammonds paused the tape and started asking questions. Some people would raise there their hand to answer, but only a few. I decided to put in my two bits and raised my hand. Mrs. Hammonds seemed surprised to see it, but called on me anyway. "The Grangerfords think that Huck might be a Shepherdson," she nodded and continued playing the tape. The rest of the class went on much the same, only, as time passed more people noticed Ell. And the more people who noticed Ell, the more she tried to hide in my shirt. I laughed softy as she buried her head in my chest.

"Silly little girl," I whispered as I planted a kiss on the top of her head. She looked up at me and made a kissy face, which I just couldn't resist. What dad, in his right mind, could resist the angelic face of his daughter? "I'm such a pushover," I whispered to her. She just giggled innocently and smiled up at me.

The bell rang. I wrapped Ell back up in my jacket before picking up the rest of my stuff. A quick glance at my schedule and map told me I needed to go out this building, down the stair, into the building I was in earlier and up the stairs in there. I hated this school already.

When I was ready to leave, only two other students were left in the classroom. _Oh great,_ I thought to myself as I saw the scantily dressed girls standing by the door, _a welcoming committee_. I started walking towards the door.

"Hello," screeched the one with frizzy, curly, brown hair that was covering half her face, the other half being covered in a pound of makeup. The other one, an unnaturally blonde girl with the same amount of makeup, was glaring at her.

"Um, hi," I said, trying to get around them. I think she was the same one from the parking lot. Ell was acting the same way she did an hour ago, and I was not happy about that. I move to go out the door and the other one stepped in my way.

"Where are you going, hansom?" the blonde one asked.

"To class," I answered slowly, like talking to a little kid who just didn't get it.

"Well, I have a better idea. There is a comfy little closet down the hall. The three of us could have a little ball," she got closer to me and started running a finger down my chest. I didn't take long for her nasty finger to come too close to Ell for both of us. I stepped back and she started crying.

"What is going on here?" Mrs. Hammonds asked. She had been ignoring our conversation, but once Ell's heart breaking cries filled the room, she took notice.

"What is wrong with that thing?" the blonde one asked, glaring down at Ell "Is it broken?"

I glared at her, "No _she_ is not 'broken' she just doesn't want your grimy fingers anywhere near her," I spat. Ell was still crying in my arms as I looked down at her. I shushed her lightly and rocked her gently. I heard two sets of heels walk into the hallway and the door shut lightly behind them.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"She'll be fine. She's just a spoiled little princess," I cooed at Ell, though my words were directed towards Mrs. Hammonds.

"Already?"

"Since the day I laid eyes on this angel," I cooed again. She had stopped crying, but was still whimpering. I looked up at Mrs. Hammonds and she had a look of longing on her face, with her hand on her stomach, where I noticed a bit more than a slight bump. "Expecting something?"

She looked up, her shock written in theoretical sharpie on her face, "How?" I just smiled, not answering her, and turned back to Ell, "yeah," I heard in the background.

The bell rang and a few students came into the room. I looked up at the noisy box and frowned.

"Do you need a note?"

"Please," I answered, smiling at her. I heard a student gasp, but paid no attention to it until I heard my name.

"Edward?" the musical voice of the angel from last night sounded. I turned and felt my smile grow.

"Hey!" I greeted. Ell perked up at the voice too, and then reached her chubby little arms out to her. I laughed as the angel before my giggled.

"May I?" she asked shyly.

"Be my guest," I answered, as I handed Ell over. It was the first time she's been out of my arms since the car this morning, and she seemed perfectly fine with it.

"Oh, Bella, would you mind showing Edward to his next class?" Mrs. Hammonds asked, eyeing the calm baby in her arms with a smile. I silently thanked Mrs. Hammonds for the gift of her name and the gift of the extra time with _Bella_.

"Yes, Mrs. Hammonds." I got my note, and Bella's, and we left.

"So, _Bella_," I said, trying to start up a conversation.

"Yes, _Edward,_" she replied.

"Ell looks really taken with you, huh?"

She blushed and nodded slightly. We had just gotten to the steps when Bella handed Ell back to me, "I'm clumsy," she explained, "don't want to risk it."

"Ah," I replied. The stairwell was too quiet, it was kind of eerie, so I filled it Ell's laughter by tickling her. Of course, that got a look from Bella, "What?" I asked, "It was too quiet!" I defended. Her laughter joined Ell's in the air and I couldn't help but to join in.

"You are an odd one, Edward," she said, trying to speak from the giggles still trying to escape from her mouth.

"How so?" I asked, trying to sound offended. I don't think it work, because she just started laughing even more. I huffed when we reached the last step, and Ell copied the noise I made and I couldn't help but to smile down at her.

"HA! I knew you weren't mad!" Bella was still giggling next to me.

"What? How could anyone be mad at you? Especially after Ell let you hold her. You are one special person if Ell lets you hold her. She wouldn't even let her own mother hold her," I whispered the last part and handed Ell back to Bella.

"What happened with her mother exactly?" she asked quietly, obviously trying not to anger me again, but the curiosity over riding the fear all the same.

I looked over at her. Yes, I liked her, and I'm sure that she likes me too. But, how would this knowledge change our relationship. Would it be a good or bad thing? Would she look at me with pity or would she treat me just the same? I hope she treats me the same, but you never know. I hoped that, no, I will not compare Bells to that. That just would not be fair to Bella.

I looked back over to the two of them, and they just seemed to fit together. But something seemed off. They were missing something.

I stopped walking at the bottom of the steps we were suppose to go to for my next class and pulled her to me. She stiffened slightly, but calmed after all I did was hold her to me, my little girl in between us. We stood there for a moment before Ell interrupted the random hug with her sweet little voice, "Dada," she said squirming.

I pulled back from Bella with tomato red cheeks, "Sorry," I whispered to her, not entirely sure why I was whispering.

"It's okay," she whispered back, her cheeks as red as mine.

"I should get to class so that you can back to yours," I was still whispering for some unknown reason.

"But, you never answered my question," she complained, handing Ell to me.

"I will, Bella, but that answer is going to take up more time then what we have left, I'm sure."

"Do you know where you're going?" she asked suddenly.

"I have a vague idea, yeah," I smirked at her.

"Then why am I here?"

"Because, you said yes," she looked at me for a second, instead of the steps. She was right about her clumsiness. She missed the next step and started to fall forward, putting out her hands in hopes to stop herself from face planting. I reached out my arm and caught her around the waist without a thought. Surprisingly, I didn't jerk forward, like I had been expecting after I realized what I did. Of course, I didn't jerk her up either; I don't have vampire strength after all. "That was a close one," I laughed and helped her stand.

"Yeah," she laughed with me.


	4. Of Diapers

***Twilight is still not mine***

I said goodbye to Bella outside the door of my second period and walked in with a smile on my face. I tried to open the door, but it was locked. _Great, now I'll call even more attention to myself_, I thought as I knocked on the wooden door. A pixie like face appeared in the little window of the ugly brown door.

"Hi!" she chirped as I stepped through the half open door. I smiled my thanks and nodded at her. She smiled brightly back at me and pointed to the front of the room where whom I presume was Mrs. Murry was glaring at us. She was a tall, skinny, dark skinned woman, who seemed to be easily annoyed. "She already doesn't like you just for being in this class, but now that you showed up late on your first day, you've got a lot of kissing up to do!" she giggled almost silently but you could still here the jingle bell like quality it held.

"Wow, it really is my day," I whisper, but the pixie still hears and giggles louder. I smirk back at her then start walking towards the teacher.

"Well, it's nice that you decided to show up," she snapped, then stretched out her arm for my papers. I handed her the pass from Mrs. Hammonds, my schedule, my transcript and the slip I had to get her to sign. "Ah, Mr. Cullen, I take it you brought Elizabeth with you today?"

"Yes Ma'am," I felt Ell shift in my arms and whine a bit. I instantly held her closer and rocked her a bit to keep her quiet. Mrs. Murry handed back my papers with a microscopic smile and pointed to a seat near the door and near the pixie.

"YAY! We get to sit together! This class is so boring! I can't even knit during it!" she pouted at the end of her rant. I had to laugh at the over active little pixie. She giggled again, and this time Ell took notice of it and giggled with, that made the pixie's smile brighten. It seems like this class wouldn't be as bad as I had thought.

Of course, right after that thought I heard nasally voices on the other side of me start gossiping.

"Look at Little Miss Sunshine, seducing another hottie with problems," the frizz-head from first started. The rest jumped in as if it was the best game in the world. I looked back at the pixie to see how the words affected her. They seemed to have depleted her good mood, and Ell's, too, for that matter.

"Hey, Pixie," I whisper called. She whipped her head back in my direction and laughed at my new nickname for her.

She looked thoughtful for a second before replying, "Yeah Pap?" I laughed at that before continuing.

"Do you hear that annoying screech?"

"Yeah," she giggled.

"That noise has been following me around all morning. It's made Ell cry twice already. The first time it thought I was whimpering…"

She giggled more, and the gossip about her stopped. "Thanks, Pap," she smiled at me.

"No problem Pixie," I smiled back, "now, what was that about troubled 'hotties'?"

She blushed a very light pink, "Uhm..."

"Come on, Pixie, you know you can trust me!" I pouted at her and she sighed in defeat.

"Well, it's only two, well I guess three now. There's Jasper, he's my boyfriend. He's really sensitive to other people's emotions. He can also manipulate them really easily. And then there's Emmet, who is really like my brother. He moved here with his mom after getting his dad thrown in jail. By the way, if you ever plan on hurting that little princess, he'll 'take care' of you," she slid her finger across her thought threateningly. I chuckled at her antics and looked down at Ell.

"Do you really think I'd let anyone lay a finger on my angel?"

"Well, no, but I just thought I would warn you anyway," she giggled again. She stopped laughing and just stared at Ell. It wasn't menacing or evil by any means, just plain staring, and no emotional attachment what so ever.

"Pixie?" I asked, "You alright?" I waved my hand in front of her face.

"Don't bother with her, Babe," one of the nasty voices from before said, "She just goes blank sometimes. What you should be worrying about is over here," I felt her thin fingers on my arm and scrunched up my face.

"Will you get your nasty hand off me? I don't want any other our leftover vomit near my daughter."

"What?!" she shrieked.

Mrs. Murry stopped teaching and asked what was going on. Pixie had come out of her daze at some point in time. "Nothing, Mrs. Murry, Edward just rejected Tanya," the class chorused 'burn' and other similar sentiments. Tanya was bristling with anger at what both Pixie and I said.

"You are going to wish you didn't say that, Troll."

"Oh, are you going to start rumors about me? Oh boo-hoo," Pixie did that fake little eye-wipe thing were you twist your fists right below your eyes.

"That's it, Troll; you are going to get it!!"

"Tanya! Are you threatening Alice?" Ah, so the pixie's name is Alice, good to know.

"No, Mrs. Murry," she replied nervously. I accidently snorted out loud at her blatant lie.

"Do you have something to add, Edward?" I looked at Alice quickly to see what I should do, she shook her head and I replied the same to Mrs. Murry.

Ell chose that moment to let the class know of her presents by letting out a loud wail. Mrs. Murry sighed and looked at me. "My I go to the restroom?"

"Diaper?" she asked, I nodded, "write a pass," I wrote one out on a pink sticky note Alice passed me and went to get it signed, "Does she behave?"

"Sometimes," I smiled down at the fussing baby, "I'm thinking not right now, though," she nodded and sent me off. I nodded at Alice as walked out the door. I closed the door behind me. I heard the door click when I realized I had no clue where the bathrooms where. I whirled back around and knocked on the door. Alice answered, already laughing.

"That way," she pointed down the hall I had walked down earlier.

"Thanks Pixie."

"No problem, Pap," I laughed then headed towards the bathrooms. They weren't that hard to find, and they were cleaner then the bathrooms at my old school. I got out the portable desktop thing from the diaper bag and laid it across a sink. I had padded it slightly so it was softer for her, if only by a little.

"Okay, baby girl, let's see what you got in there," I unsnapped the one-piece and pealed back the diaper, "Ah!" I quickly replaced the diaper and made a face at Ell, who giggled uncontrollably at the funny face. I held my breath as I peal the diaper off again. It was really nasty this time. I wiped her up a little with a baby wipe before switching the dirty diaper for a clean one and cleaning her up better. This was the worst part of being a father, without a bout.

I was snapping her one-piece closed when a bear of a man walked into the bathroom, whistling "Zippidy doo dah." Ell found it funny and started giggling. The noise must have startled the huge man, because he jumped about a foot in the air. Apparently, that was even funnier, because she laughed.

"Dada!" she laughed again, and clapped. The bear had spotted us and was now looking on curiously.

"They let you bring her to school?"

"Well, yeah," I have to admit, I was kind of scared talking to a guy over a foot taller than me, and I was no shrimp to begin with, but if Ell was fine with him being so close, then so was I.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why can you take her school? Does her mom take her to school too?"

"I can take her to school because I'm harder to deal with when she's not around, and vice versa. Her mom is back in Chicago, away from Ell so that she doesn't end up on my front porch in the middle of the night, only to be kidnapped by her mother a week later," I was working myself up into a fit by the end of my little speech, I didn't realize I had said all that I did until it was too late, "ah man," I looked up to the big man, "please don't tell anyone that. We moved so that no one could tell Ell what a psycho her mother really was-"I was cut off by a large hand being put on my shoulder.

"It's alright, man, I won't tell a soul, scouts honor," he grinned childishly and held up his right hand. "'sides, I can tell a good pa when I see one, and you are one," I blushed at the comment and mumbled a thanks.

I turned back to the make sift changing table and put it back in the diaper bag. I had a diaper bag on my shoulder and a baby in my arms, so I couldn't grab the diaper. I could shift Ell onto one hip, but she was wiggling too much for that.

"Don't worry 'bout that, man, I've got it, name's Emmett, by the way."

"Thanks, mine's Edward. Hey, you don't happen to have a pixie of a friend named Alice, do you?"

"Ha! Pixie! I like it. Yeah, she's like my little sis. Why? What's she to you?"

"She sits next to me this period. One of the two girls here that don't seem to want to rape me," I shuddered at the mental image.

"Who's the other?"

"Bella, do you know her?"

"Yeah! She was talking about you this morning! I think your wrong about not wanting to rape you, through… cr-ow! Now she's going to kill me! You can't tell her I told you that!"

"No problem. But I don't think I was wrong about the rape thing."

"Why's that?"

"The definition of rape," I left him with that to think about as I headed back to class. Alice opened the door again and did a little twirl before sitting down.

"Did you chug a gallon of soda while I was in there?" I asked when she couldn't stop bouncing in her seat once she sat down.

"Nope," she popped the p in time with a bounce before continuing on with the sentence, "I just looked at your schedule. Next you have Algebra III with Jazzy, then lunch with all of us, Honors Physics and AP Chemistry with Bella then French 2 with Rose and Em," she explained, getting more and more bouncy as she explained her bounciness.


End file.
